Life as a Game

Maybe it’s a reflection of my own childhood, hours spent pumping quarters into an infernal machine in the back of the general store, or maybe it’s my son’s burgeoning obsession with Mario, but there are times in the course of hanging out with these kids, particularly during holiday break, where it feels like we’re playing the world’s least fun video game:

You literally can’t stop moving; each task seems more tedious than the last; something or someone unseen keeps leaving increasingly random items for you to pick up; there’s generally a crazed “boss” who is orchestrating all the madness; it wouldn’t be surprising if someone ingested a mushroom and then proceeded to swell up; and just when you start to get the hang of it . . . you run out of money.